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New Roadblocks to a Burgeoning Friendship in Super Sons 10

by Spencer Irwin

This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!

Super Sons 10 is a bit of a breather issue and a “move things into place” issue, neither of which tend to be the most popular installments of any comic series. Personally, though, I feel like this is the mode in which Super Sons operates best — I don’t follow this series because of the plot, I follow it because I love seeing Damian and Jon’s personalities bounce off each other, and that’s 95% of this issue. Peter Tomasi and Jose Luis actually couldn’t have timed this better — with Jon and Damian growing closer and becoming more amicable, it was time to introduce some new challenges for them to overcome and to add a few more hurdles to their burgeoning friendship.

That’s not to say that I want these two to stay at these others’ throats 24/7, nor that I haven’t enjoyed seeing their friendship blossom, just that, by the beginning of this issue, the two have probably gotten as close and open with each other as they’re capable of being at this point in their lives.

This is such a heartwarming moment. Jon’s able to help Damian recapture a joy he’d completely forgotten about, and Damian, in turn, actually opens up to Jon about one of his many tightly-held secrets. They’re looking like real friends, and like a real team.

Which, of course, means it’s time for some new challenges. Batman and Superman gift their sons with a new, top-secret undersea headquarters, but in return, enroll them both in the same private school. Jon’s excited while Damian’s mortified, but in truth, being classmates will probably be a challenge for both boys, because we know that adding other children into the picture upsets the tenuous balance they’ve achieved. The second new challenge seems a bit more daunting — in a brief “intermezzo,” we glimpse the future Damian Wayne as Batman, standing in the ashes of Gotham PD and declaring that “the apocalypse is back on.” Whatever this means, the fact that it’s happening in the pages of Super Sons means it will no doubt have ramifications for our young heroes. No matter how their lives pan out, catching glimpses of their future will no doubt rattle Jon and Damian, especially if they’re somehow responsible for bad things happening to the other.

So Super Sons 10 manages to bring the kind of fun I check out this book for month after month, while also providing a few new and unexpected challenges. Hopefully, this will help keep this book fresh, engaging, and at its best for a long time to come.

The conversation doesn’t stop there. What do you wanna talk about from this issue?